The Drum Beats Out of Time
by WindowChild
Summary: Ipod shuffle challenge. Drabbles, pairing and otherwise, inspired by songs.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I've seen tons of these floating around the PJO fandom, as well as others, so I decided to try it.

The way it works:

Put your ipod on shuffle. You must write one drabble for any number of songs (you choose, five, ten, etc). The drabble can be about anything, but it works best if it's about a pairing. You have ONLY until the song is over to write, and there is no skipping songs. The drabble can either be connected to the song in some way, or simply inspired by any part of it. Put the title of the song and the artist above each drabble, as well as the pairing name if it applies.

**My Friends** from "Sweeney Todd"

_Thuke_

In the depths of Hades, on the painful wait to reincarnation, only one person crossed Luke's mind.

A friend and an equal, Thalia was one of few. Of course, they were worlds apart. They were chained to separate corners of the world; barricaded by godly traditions.

He wanted to feel her in his hands, to know her like he used to. As irony might have it, it was only once he was dead that he truly realized the warmth of her company.

He died a hero, perhaps, but it did not soothe the loneliness.

**Jamie All Over **by Mayday Parade

_Perachel_

With Rachel, Percy felt as if he were in another world. She was a dream; she was an unprecedented _event_.

Even though he knew it wouldn't last, and that it wasn't meant to be, she was an experience he never would have wanted to miss.

She taught him the basics of dating and the like, and it gave Percy inches more in confidence. With Rachel, Percy felt a little more like he thought he should. He was not a half blood, he was not a disaster; he was your average teen, having his first dunk in the wading pool that is romance.

They kissed, and he tasted lip-gloss. They hugged, and he felt like he thought he might be supposed to. She was not a fate or a forever, but she was something he could easily escape to. He wouldn't forget her, he knew.

**The Abduction Ballet **from "The Fantasticks"

_ZeusHera_

They sat upon Olympus, watching the Revolutionary War with some amusement. Mortals could be oddly minded.

Screams and shouts, the sound of rifles. It was all so very trivial to the gods.

Hera turned to her husband, smiling. "Are you having fun?"

Zeus shrugged. "I've seen better."

"Me too." For all of their differences, Hera and Zeus had similar preferences for entertainment.

**Suffocation **by Allister

_No pairing_

They'd keep fighting. Until the last kin of the gods was lost, they would fight. They would play the parts from the gods' set stage.

They were all connected, as Luke had once said. They were extended family. They'd fight, for each other if not for themselves.

Words and lives flashed through deaf eardrums. It would end, maybe that very night.

They wouldn't answer to the insecurities, they would only keep fighting. It was the true sentiment of desperation that the demigods finally felt. This was personal, and they had to win it.

**Come On **by Josie and the Pussycats

_BeckendorfSilena _

She was not the relationship type. She was a daughter of Aphrodite, obviously more built for dates and make-out parties.

Somehow though, this was different. They'd jumped the line from friend to more-than during a party. The music blared, the lights flashed. And somehow the combination of the adrenaline and the punch had led to their lips connecting on the dance floor.

Beckendorf had never been in a relationship. He wasn't used to the idea, despite his teenage age. However, Silena's smile and fascinating ambiguity succeeded in catching him at the knees.

Somewhere among the noisy celebration, they broke their own boundaries. They found each other as more than friends, and it was all in one moment.

A/N: Just so you know, I'm going to be updating this fairly sporadically. Whenever I get an interest in writing song-inspired stuff, I'll add more drabbles. It's not going to be continually updated though.


	2. Chapter 2

**One Short Day from Wicked**

_Nico_

Nico quietly strolled around his new cabin, admiring the finishing touches. It had just been completed, two days before. He grinned, unable to help it. Even if it got a little lonely sometimes, he finally had a place that was just his.

His smile widened, as he heard a knocking on the door. It was Percy and Annabeth, coming to take him to dinner. Maybe he wouldn't be so lonely, after all.

As they walked, he silently drank in his surroundings, wondering how he ever could have wanted to be somewhere else. For all its faults, Camp Half Blood felt like home.

**Black Wave by The Shins**

_HadesMaria_

"Are you okay?" He was watching her closely, wanting to capture her reaction.

She smiled. Whatever she may have thought about the Underworld, it was nice when he cared about her. He loved her, more than he was allowed to.

"We **can** be free here," he said, kissing her neck. She knew then, that he was asking her to stay. "This is my world," Hades whispered, just as tenderly. "I can make the rules here. You don't ever have to leave."

Maria glanced over at Persephone's empty throne, and then at her growing belly. How little he realized.

**Song of Forgetting from Next to Normal**

_HermesMay_

"May?" He couldn't bare that awful second… the slim moment of horrific anticipation. He would speak, and then wait a moment to see what good it had done.

But no. Her eyes flashed, and he felt his heart shatter just a little more.

"Don't you remember May?" he asked, barely holding on. "Your son? Our son? Luke?"

"Luke," May said. "When's my boy coming home?" Hermes sank to his knees, slowly. He'd lost her forever. She'd never remember again. She would know one day, and nothing else.

**Kiss the Girl** **from Little Mermaid**

_Percabeth_

Annabeth laughed. She couldn't help it. He had clearly planned this weekend at sea meticulously – and had not executed it so well.

"It's okay, Seaweed Brain."

"No, no," Percy said. "I wanted to make an air bubble for us, and everything. It was going to be really romantic!" His cheeks were red.

"That's okay," she repeated, still grinning. "I don't mind just kissing on the canoe."

"Really?"

"Sure."

"Okay," he hesitated a moment, and then leaned forward to kiss her. When they pulled away, several minutes later, Annabeth sat in thought.

"You're right, the air bubble would have been more romantic."

"Annabeth!"

**So Alive by Ashley Parker Angel**

_BeckendorfBianca_

"Does it always feel so… strange?" he asked.

Bianca glanced around. Silena just died; why wasn't he going after her?

"No," she said, honestly. "You adjust. It starts to feel a little bit like life." She hoped this would be true for him, and not just for children of Hades.

"Okay," he said, giving a stout nod. "Will you help me?"

"With what?"

"To adjust," he said. He smiled a little, and she mirrored it.

"Sure. I – I mean, yeah, I'd be happy to."

"Great. Where do we start?"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Profanity

**Pen & Paper by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus**

_Lukabeth_

They were older, now. They weren't little kids. He couldn't just pull her back to him, with a kiss on a bleeding cut or a hug to keep away the monsters.

But then… he felt the power of it all. He could do whatever he wanted to, now. He wasn't constrained by his old fears, or by the gods. He was all grown up, and so was she.

So in that moment, when he was truly Kronos, he hit her. For a moment, he was glad to be past their childhoods. He was glad to push her away. And then, it was over. In an instant, he remembered who he used to be.

"Annabeth…" he whispered. He wanted to pull her back, now. And he couldn't.

**Lay All Your Love on Me from Mamma Mia**

_PoseidonSally_

They are on the beach, bathing in the tepid waters. It's perfect, Sally thinks. _This man_ is perfect. She's finally found the right one.

"I love you," he whispers, careless of the days to come. He's living the present, like some mortals like to do.

She kisses him, fully reciprocating the sentiment. They slide behind a rock, unaware that they're about to change history. All caught up in their fiery, romantic moment.

**!Viva La Gloria! by Green Day**

_Percy_

Percy glanced across the waters, thinking of Beckendorf. He was the first to be lost, but Percy knew that there would be others. Others to be lost, for the cause of the Second Titan War.

He glanced up at the stars, thinking of the hypocrisy of tradition. The young man had just died for the gods, and they didn't even think about honoring him.

He sighed, missing… something. What was there to miss though? Besides Beckendorf, and the days of peace they wouldn't be getting.

Sometimes, he got just what the titans were talking about. He cared about his father, sure, but sometimes everything seemed fucked up.

**Fugue for Tinhorns from Guys and Dolls**

_Chariot Racing_

"You are so going down, Jackson," Clarisse said. She and Chris were already settled in their Chariot, ready to rumble. Just because they'd become friends with Percy and Annabeth, that didn't mean she'd lost her competitive streak.

"Hey Percy," Connor called, from his seat in the stands. "Any idea how you're going to do today?"

"Not really," Percy replied, laughing. It was the first chariot race since the war.

"That's too bad," Connor said, walking closer. "Hey Percy," he said again, whispering. "If you let Clarisse win, I'll cut you in for half of the money."

"_What?" _Percy asked. "You're taking bets?"

"Um, no, of course not," Connor said. His face was red. "Um, never mind." Percy rolled his eyes, watching as Connor signaled to his brother.

**Ravenclaw Seeker by The Remus Lupins**

_PercyThalia_

"I'm sorry," Thalia said, blowing hair out of her eyes. "For um, judging you."

"Seriously?" Percy asked. "Wow, didn't think you were the type to apologize for stuff like that."

"I'm not," Thalia said sourly. "It's just…" She shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I didn't think you deserved it."

"Thanks," Percy replied, awkwardly.

"No problem," she said back. They sat side by side, neither thinking of Annabeth.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Needed to inspire myself to move past procrastination and finish the rest of my updating. Music was my favorite solution : ). Please read and review!

**Metamorphosis **by Hilary Duff

_Luke_

He could feel the stretch to his skin, the burn to his lungs. His whole past, crumbling down to sand. Barely sand, even. Sand that had been tread to many times, it appeared to be a filthy, abhorrent muck.

It didn't feel real. The way his back felt full of air, inflated by the power that now gushed through his veins.

Kronos seized his legs, pulling him in and out of rooms. Up and down with the sword. His eyes fluttering between golden and blue, sanity and this twisted crisis of identity.

**Rosie **from "Bye Bye Birdie"

_GroverThalia_

"It makes sense you know," he said, as she held him close. They were dancing.

"What does?" she asked.

"You and me. You were a tree –"

Her laughter cut him off.

"And I'm a Satyr," he continued, a little softer.

She continued to laugh, shaking her head. "Oh Grover, you can't date people just because of something like that. If you did, then we'd probably end up like the gods."

Staring at her dark hair and bright eyes, he wanted to ignore it. Really though, she had a point. The gods were always picking their dates based on semantics.

**The Middle **by Jimmie Eat World

_Demigods, Percabeth _

They were the worst possible race, really. Children of the most powerful beings in the universe. Larger than the life of mortals, but far too insignificant to be inducted into Olympus. Stuck. Caught in the shaft between the great and the mundane.

Percy thought this over, realizing it as the Stoll brothers pelted the rest of them with spitballs. Luke hadn't been so alone, in his thoughts of vengeance long ago. Things were not so easy.

But with Annabeth under his arm, and his friends buzzing around him, Percy found he couldn't care.

**Grand Old Ivy **from "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"

_PaulSally_

"Are you sure I'm going to fit in?" Sally asked. She felt like such a schoolgirl, but it was not an unreasonable question. Paul's friends were academics.

"You'll fit in fine," he said, kissing her cheeks. "I love you, and they will too."

She highly doubted _that_, but perhaps he was right that she would survive. After all, if she could make her place with a god, she could certainly do it with a crowd of uptight New Yorkers.

**December 1963 (What a Night) **from "Jersey Boys"

_ChrisClarisse_

What a night.

A wedding (Percy and Annabeth's), and a baby shower (Grover and Juniper's).

Clarisse silently clutched Chris's hand, praying it could all be over. This was all nice, and she felt happy for her friends, but she couldn't help and feel that it was hard to enjoy. After all, didn't they always get the spotlight?

But there they were, watching Grover give the best man speech, when Chris suddenly knelt. He pulled out a velvet box, blush brushing his cheeks as he smiled up at her.

"Will you marry me?"

Clarisse gave a gasp, her chest fluttering more than it ever had in her life. She nodded, too breathless to utter a reply in words. What a night indeed.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hello! I know it's been ages (sorry!). Miss me? Anyway, I _was _planning on updating In More Ways Than One next (which I still plan to do), but I wasn't sure if I'd get it done tonight, and I wanted to post _something _tonight, so here we are!

This fic is easy and fun, and rarely takes very long since editing is forbidden, so it's simple for me to fit in on any given day. And don't worry, I'll try to get to my other fics too. Happy reading!

**Drop Out – The So Unknown **by Jack's Mannequin

_NicoThalia_

These were uncharted waters. He had never had a girlfriend before. And he could tell, from her sideways glances and audible swallows, that she was just as inexperienced.

They were children of the Big Three. Death and sky. Spawns of sworn nemeses. Romeo and Juliet had nothing on them; the Montagues and the Capulets didn't control all nature.

And, to be candid about it, they were breaking the rules. They were breaking the universe, with every shadowed step they took.

"Thalia," Nico began. He was breathing hard, so tired from the fighting. Exhausted from the fear of losing her. They were caught in a cold war with the gods, and the cautionary tales were clear: mortals had a tendency to lose. "I want you to come with me." He felt his skin prickle, begging to touch her hand again. He felt emotion swallow him up. "Can't we just run away?"

She looked at him, pressing her body close to his. "I wish. I wish it wouldn't kill us."

He nodded. They were just too much for the world they lived in.

**Happiness **from "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown"

_Percabeth_

It was the little things. It was not the way she fought in battle, or the way she built buildings he couldn't have dreamed of. It was not even the way she kissed him, their lips meeting with a sliver of sweetness between the fervor.

It was just her. Annabeth.

It was the way she yelled at him from not making the bed, and the way she didn't add enough to salt to any given dish. It was the sardonic wisdom to her eyes, the tender precision with which her fingers worked.

It was the way she gazed up at him, surprised and elated all at once, when he asked her if she'd marry him.

She was Annabeth, and it was imperfect little details that made him fall for her each day.

**Where's Summer B.? **by Ben Folds Five

_BeckendorfSilena_

They were drama. That's what Silena would have liked to think, as they strolled hand and hand to the dining hall. They were the glamorous, enviable theatrics that demigods usually missed out on. After all, they were too caught up in _other _kinds of drama.

But Silena far preferred this. When she was young, before she'd learned the hard truth about her background, she'd wanted to be a movie star. It wasn't that she was all that talented (she wasn't in the slightest), but she'd always had a desire to feel the cameras clicking. On her.

So they were drama, and maybe they were a little bit of dreams too. But they were pretend. Fiction. Because it wouldn't last; those things never do.

**It's No Problem **from "High Fidelity"

_Grover_

I kept my mouth shut, most of the time. Being the best friend to a superhero's pretty tough, you know, and it took a while for me to learn the specifics. But I've got it down pat now.

You smile, and you wave, and you do what Percy says. After all, I don't know what I'd do without him. He really is the person I care most about, you know? Besides Juniper.

… And it's not that I mind him being in the spotlight. I don't. Most of the time. But sometimes, ah, I don't know. I guess I don't mind. Not really… Not usually…

**You've Got to Be Carefully Taught **from "South Pacific"

_Ethan Nakamura and Percy Jackson_

What he have been like this, if they hadn't gotten to him? That's what Percy wondered sometimes, about the one-eyed boy who'd saved his life.

After all, it seemed like he was a good guy underneath. Good values, behind the god-hating, Kronos-allying exterior. So what was it then?

Every time he wondered, sometimes with Annabeth's wise words in his ear, he came back to the same conclusion. Ethan was good, just like Luke had been good. They were both good, and Kronos's people had taught him to hate. And that was the problem.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, guys! Thanks for all of the reviews for last chapter!

**Miss Delaney by Jack's Mannequin**

_NicoAnnabeth_

He stood outside the Big House, an unfamiliar feeling coursing through him. Oh, that's right. Pride. He was proud of his "heroism", if that's what it was.

"Nico, would you like my help with your dorm?" Annabeth asked. She looked more hopeful than he remembered seeing her, a spark to her gray eyes. "I - I always like architecture projects, and..." A smile crossed her face, embarrassed.

"Uh, sure, if you want to." He smiled back, just a little bit. Smiles were easier to come by now. "You - you waited here, just to ask me that?"

She shrugged, and he reminded himself that she had a boyfriend. The freakin hero Percy Jackson. But even so, he couldn't stop the images from speeding through his adolescent brain. He and Annabeth sitting in a New York taxi. He and Annabeth holding hands, walking through Camp Half Blood. He and Annabeth kissing...

"Well, I'll see you later Nico."

"Right. Bye." She left without a backwards glance, and he shook himself. Where had those fantasies come from? She had a boyfriend. A heroic boyfriend. Far more heroic than Nico, anyway. And he was left alone again.

**Pineapple Princess from Lilo and Stitch**

_Perachel_

"Do it again! Do it again!" She was shrieking, giggling into her virgin Pina Colada. Percy grinned his impish grin, and made the waves swish around them again.

Rachel laughed aloud now, nearly falling off their lovely pink raft. "Again, again!" she choked, swallowing some of her drink the wrong way.

Giving her a look, he did it hard enough to throw them into the water this time. She screamed a bloodcurdling shriek, but it quickly dissolved into laughter. "Percy! My shirt is mostly white! Now it's..."

"Transparent? Kind of the point." His arms scooped her into his grip, plucking her from the current of waves. He kissed her for a long moment, before she interrupted with a grimace.

"Damn, my hair's all tangled too."

He rolled his eyes. "Sorry Princess," he said, sarcasm ringing in every syllable. "Let's get you back on your throne." With the utmost gentle touch, he placed her back on the raft. "How's that?"

She smiled, sipping her drink with a casual air. "Much better."

**Love is All Around by Joan Jett**

_AphroditeAres_

"I don't believe you," she sniffed, eyes watering dangerously. "Just because Paris gave me the golden apple... it's only because I promised him Helen of Troy!" She looked up at her not-so-secret boyfriend, eyes flashing. "You really think I'm prettiest?"

"Of course I do," he replied, all too willing to suck up. "You are the prettiest, most brilliant, most wonderful... You bring love to people! That makes you the nicest too!" He crouched by her chest, prepared to get lucky in exchange for his groveling.

But Aphrodite sprang up from the bed, neck straightened haughtily. "Hah!" she shouted, facing far-away Olympus, where her sisters sat. "I'm the prettiest after all."

**Kids in America by No Secrets**

_Percabeth_

"Wait, wait, one more!" He kissed Annabeth hungrily, grinning towards the door.

"Gods, Percy... your mom's going to be back any minute!"

"Oh, whatever. We're American teenagers! She can't deny us a little making out."

"I'm sure she - " Percy's lips interrupted her mid sentence, and she found herself having to remember that she was the responsible one. "Percy. Percy, slow down. We cannot kiss... like this... with your mom and baby sister about to come home. I don't care how normal it is for Americans, because we're technically Greek anyway."

Continuing to peck the side of her face, Percy grinned. "You're right about that. Heh, I guess I never thought about it that way. Oh well. The Greeks are known for their kissing skills too, right?"

Annabeth laughed, trying to push him off her. "Percy!"

**All The Pretty Faces by The Killers**

_ArtemisApollo/ApolloThalia/ThaliaArtemis_

"What? Apollo, I can't! I'm - I'm a Hunter. I belong to your sister!"

"You belong to my sister? I belong to my sister. Or I _belonged_ to her. No more. She's trying to set an example for you girls."

"You mean...?"

"That's right. She used to break all the rules, just to be with her brother." He laughed, and the sound was strangely sad. "So come on, Thalia... you know you miss a man's touch." He dove into her body, expecting nothing but acceptance. After all, no sane girl turned down a guy like him.

But as Thalia kissed him, somehow too weak to resist, she found she didn't miss a man's touch after all. At least, not Apollo's. The only touch she missed was Artemis's. Soft, gentle, never so dirty. She wanted to go back with her Hunters.

A/N: I hope you liked these! I know some of them are strange (though none too strange for _my _liking, to be honest).


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